The hyena gets new spots

I root for the underdog. I frequently volunteer to help the underserved. And much to my father’s chagrin, I tend to date tremendously creative but often starving artists.

Perhaps this is why I have always reserved a special place in my heart for the lowly hyena. They’ve gotten a bad rap over the years as sneaky scavengers, antisocial loners and bizarre hermaphrodites. So, you can only imagine how happy I was when my friend Lili tipped me off to the article in the May issue of Smithsonian Magazine aimed at debunking some of the negative mythology surrounding hyenas.

Yep. It’s time for another Friday afternoon non sequitur.

The spotted hyena.

In the words of journalist Steve Kemper, “Few creatures inspire such a queasy mixture of fear, disgust and disdain. Most zoos snub them — no public demand. Conservation groups do not use hyena photos to raise money.”

Here are some of my favorite insights from Kemper’s amazingly researched story:

Though they resemble dogs, hyenas are actually more closely related to cats, and closest to mongooses and civets.

Spotted hyenas sometimes scavenge, but, contrary to popular belief, they kill 95 percent of their food.

A “frenzied scrum” of spotted hyenas (also known as laughing hyenas) can dismantle and devour a 400-pound zebra in 25 minutes.

Naturalist Hans Kruuk spent three and a half years with the Serengeti’s spotted hyenas. He expected “odious solitary scavengers” but instead found sophisticated hunters living in complex clans.

Cubs enter life with their eyes open and some of their teeth already erupted; within minutes siblings begin fighting one another to establish dominance.

A recent study suggests that status begins in the womb.

The mother has only two nipples; in a litter of three, the least aggressive cub will usually starve.

The female hyena’s reproductive canal is twice as long as that in a similarly sized animal. The most obvious advantage is power over reproduction. Mating is impossible without full female cooperation. And if a female has a change of heart after mating, the elongated reproductive tract lets her flush out the sperm by urinating. (!)